Fan detained after racially insulting Kylian Mbappé during Spanish league game

MADRID (AP) – Spanish police have detained a fan accused of racially insulting Kylian Mbappé during a Spanish league game last month.

Police said Wednesday that the fan was taken into custody after being identified during an investigation launched following an official complaint by the Spanish league.

Police said the fan, who was not publicly identified, was accused of making monkey gestures and sounds toward Real Madrid star.

The insults came late in the first half of Madrid’s 3-0 victory at Oviedo on Aug. 24, after Mbappé scored the first goal.

There have been a series of racist insults from fans against Black players in Spain in recent years.

Last week, an Espanyol fan accused of racially insulting Athletic Bilbao forward Iñaki Williams during a Spanish league match five years ago accepted a deal to avoid prison time.

In May, five Valladolid fans who racially insulted Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior in 2022 were found guilty in the first ruling in Spain that condemned racist insults in a soccer stadium as a hate crime.

Last year, three Valencia fans were handed eight-month prison sentences after pleading guilty to racially insulting Vinícius in what was the first conviction for racism-related cases – not based on a hate crime – in professional soccer in Spain.